Han Ximin

SHENZHEN will seed clouds more frequently in order to bring rain to the drought-stricken city in the coming two months, an official with the Shenzhen Meteorological Observatory said yesterday.

The announcement came after successful cloud seeding, the first of the year, brought 18.5 millimeters of rainfall Saturday.

The city sent 15 rockets into clouds over Pearl River Delta cities such as Dongguan, Huizhou and Shenzhen, and caused a heavy downpour at 2 a.m. Saturday, greatly relieving the drought that had affected the city since September last year.

"If weathers permits, we will increase cloud seeding in April and May," said Luo Huaming, a department chief of the observatory who was responsible for the cloud seeding.

The rainfall Saturday helped relieve prolonged drought, increase reservoir capacity and reduce risks of forest fire, according to Luo.

Shenzhen recorded only 83.2 millimeters of rainfall since the beginning of the year, a 23.9-percent drop compared to the same period last year. The drought alarm, which was issued Dec. 7, 2007, is still effective.

The rain brought local residents joy and excitement as well as inconvenience, as some sections along Shenhui Road were flooded. The rain swelled the Buji River and flooded the construction site of the Caopu Station of Metro Line 3.

The city will see scattered rain in the week ahead with temperatures ranging between 17 and 25 degrees Celsius.

In another development, nearly 200 residents visited the Shenzhen Meteorological Observatory yesterday to learn more about the weather on the occasion of World Meteorological Day.